What: Andr茅-Philippe Gagnon
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $59.50 at rmts.bc.ca, 250-386-6121 or the Royal McPherson box office
Note: Gagnon also performs at Nanaimo鈥檚 Port Theatre on Oct. 4 and Campbell River鈥檚 Tidemark Theatre on Oct. 6
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At one point in his career, impressionist Andr茅-Philippe Gagnon was known as the man of 1,000 voices. He turned the corner on 2,000 a decade ago, by constantly adding new impressions of singers into his act.
The number continues to grow. If he factors into the equation his arsenal of celebrities, politicians and actors 鈥� not to mention the paying customers he has parodied during performances throughout his three-decade career 鈥� the French-Canadian funnyman would put his tally of voices in the 4,000 to 5,000 range.
That鈥檚 a huge number for any impressionist, but many put Gagnon in a class by himself. He differs from his contemporaries in that he mimics the singing voices of famous performers, rather than their speaking voices.
Plenty of comics can tackle Michael Jackson鈥檚 famously high-pitched way of speaking, he said, but only a few can adeptly mirror his singing voice.
When he got his start in the mid-鈥�80s, impressions of the King of Pop were all the rage. But Gagnon found that once he had his Jackson impression down, comedy bits featuring others who fell into the same range 鈥� such as James Brown 鈥� came pouring out. The payoffs are still coming: Yet another Jackson soundalike, Uptown Funk superstar Bruno Mars, has been added to Gagnon鈥檚 set.
Though he makes an effort to include material from the stars of today (Ed Sheerhan, Charlie Puth, Sam Smith), his audience is primarily those who want to relive the hits of yesteryear. Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Gordon Lightfoot, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan are staples of his set.
鈥淢usical memories are very strong. When I reproduce a song, it triggers something.鈥�
The key is to cover a song the audience instantly recognizes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lame joke if only 30 per cent of the people know the song,鈥� Gagnon said. 鈥淚f I do Frank Zappa, people might think, 鈥榃ho is he doing?鈥� I have to make sure they are popular and the people know what the artists sounds like. That鈥檚 my main preoccupation.鈥�
One of the country鈥檚 most enduring performers 鈥� it has been 32 years since he made his American television debut on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 鈥� he was brought in to entertain Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan for a sa国际传媒 Day performance in 2011. Joining the high-ranking Canadian politicians in attendance was a general in the Afghanistan army. He was quite a serious fellow who was not easily moved to laughter, Gagnon recalled.
Gagnon thought briefly that the booking was a mistake. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 a bass player in a rock band who decided at 21 to become a soldier in Afghanistan. He was probably groomed to be a general from his early days. For him, music is not like it is for you and I.鈥�
A funny thing happened after what turned out to be a well-received performance, however. Canadian Army general Walter Natynczyk relayed a message to Gagnon, saying that his Afghan counterpart really enjoyed the act, but wondered how officials had managed to get the guy who sings all the songs on the radio to come and perform. 鈥淔or him, on the radio there was a guy who did the news and a guy who sang all the songs,鈥� Gagnon said with a laugh.
He doesn鈥檛 simply do voices; Gagnon can mimic a saxophone and machine gun with startling accuracy. But his calling card is undoubtedly vocal illusions. Those with raspy voices, such as Rod Stewart or Joe Cocker, are difficult to reproduce these days without causing damage to his vocal cords, however. On tour, he does them in small doses.
鈥淚 have to be careful. High-pitched voices and women鈥檚 voices will always be tough for me to produce, because you have to stress your muscles. You can鈥檛 do those voices for hours, just a little excerpt.鈥�